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How to hold a hot towel on your face!

I have tried using hot towels a few times and one of the biggest things that puts me off is holding the towel in place whilst I do other things (i.e. whipping up lather in a bowl). Folding it over behind my neck or even using a peg / bulldog clip behind my neck don't work. Even if these two methods are successful at holding the towel tight (which they rarely are), they won't hold it tight round my neck as well as round my face.

I know some of you say just lie back on a chair in your bathroom and chill. But I neither have a chair nor the inclination!

The best solution I have come up with is to hold it over my face while propping my elbows on the edge of the sink. This is OK, but does anyone else have any better ideas ...

I have a towel that is long enough that I can wrap around my neck and tuck it into itself. I micro-wave and it gets pretty hot so I rinse the ends in cold water so as to not burn my neck. It is not a full towel but one that is smaller like a barbers towel.

Take a hand towel (a thick one works best) and roll it up, long ways, about half way. Run under hot water. Place the rolled portion under your neck and the unrolled portion up over the chin and up to the nose. Pull tight up to the back of your head. Use a thick rubberband to hold in place. Works great. Costs nothing. Allows me make lather while the beard is marinating.

Take a hand towel (a thick one works best) and roll it up, long ways, about half way. Run under hot water. Place the rolled portion under your neck and the unrolled portion up over the chin and up to the nose. Pull tight up to the back of your head. Use a thick rubberband to hold in place. Works great. Costs nothing. Allows me make lather while the beard is marinating.

Mike

Mike - that sounds very interesting! I just want to make sure I understand ... you are rolling the long side of the towel I presume so that the towel is still long enough to wrap around your face, right? Also, I presume you create the bulky rolled part so that it stays tightish around your neck (which is obviously a smaller diameter than your face). Did I get that right? Ingenious!

I have a towel that is long enough that I can wrap around my neck and tuck it into itself. I micro-wave and it gets pretty hot so I rinse the ends in cold water so as to not burn my neck. It is not a full towel but one that is smaller like a barbers towel.

Nail my feet to the floor, just bring on the food, baby. P.S. - Ouch is awesome!!!

Join Date

Jun 2007

Location

Howell, MI

Posts

3,301

I use two towels...

First, as hot and as wet as I can stand it, a long-napped "barber towel" white, which I don't wring out much...I apply it over my face, cringe, then I follow it with a dry, thick large hand towel.

This keeps it from dripping on the floor, and it seems to help it hold more heat in. I usually just hold the outer towel with my left hand-- (I can unwrap a double-wrapped Gillette Silver Blue, open my Fatboy, take out and replace the old blade all one handed, but then I'm an idiot...don't try this at home) But I can certainly whip up a little more lather, pack the afternoon lunch, anything with that one hand...

Or I can clip it with a large binder clip or clothespin.

But most of the time, I just sit on the couch and watch the Morning news/weather for a few minutes...or I chill....(but not literally!)

"I'd wish you good luck, but the good ones don't need it and all the luck in the world won't help the bad ones."

I mix my lather first, then do my face prep. I keep my lather bowl in the sink with enough hot water around it to keep the lather warm. I usually use Proraso pre/post during my prep (I follow Kyle's Prep method), but I sometime use some of my lather.

I soak a hand towel, fold it in thirds, and lay it over my face. I either hold it in place or tilt my head back a little and relax. After the prep is finished I lather up and start shaving.

Hello, I think everyone has covered it well. The only thing that I might add is that you may just want to use the time that the hot towel is on your face to relax. Some guys even lay down while the towel is on their face.

-Rich-

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost

I've given up on hot towels at home. For me, it's something special you get at the spa or barber. I just don't have the right set-up to enjoy it at home.

Do you have a sink where you shave? I just soak a fingertip towel in hot water from the tap, wring it out a bit, and press it to my face. Now, if you are looking for towels so hot you have to handle them with tongs, my method might not work, unless you set your water heater to a dangerously high heat setting.